Law would regulate pot like wine

At South Coast Plaza, Sandy Segerstrom Daniels was hosting the opening-night party for her 10th annual Festival of Children, a month-long endeavor to promote the general betterment of the lives of children. In years past, her gala has been themed like an old-fashioned ice-cream social, with the happy sounds of a carousel and children laughing. Always an event as lovely and wholesome as the Lennon sisters.

A few miles away on Thursday, her dear cousin, Richard Moriarty, was hosting a fundraiser to legalize pot.

My schedule was such that I could only attend one.

As I pulled up to Moriarty’s estate, I could hear a throaty Lamborghini engine roaring to life from the vicinity of his garage, so I wandered up that way. While the sound of a Lamborghini is not unusual in Newport, this is: the body of Moriarty’s black Lambo is literally mounted on the wall of his living room like a Mondrian, while its engine has been turned into a coffee table in his downstairs man cave. He likes to fire it up to amuse visitors, and sure enough, I found cousin Richard with a gaggle of first-timers, among them retired Judge Jim Gray and congressman Dana Rohrabacher.

Gray is the chief signatory and proponent of brand new “The Regulate Marijuana Like Wine Act of 2012.” Lest you think I indiscriminately bailed on the Festival of Children for the Festival of Pot, there was actual news value in my choice. (Plus, as you’ll see tomorrow, I more than made it up to the Festival of Children the next night.) The pot initiative was submitted to the attorney general on Friday, which sets in motion the process to put it on the state ballot.

The initiative is very similar to the failed Prop. 19 of 2010, but with one major difference: It would still allow employers to fire workers who test positive for marijuana. Prop. 19 lost one major natural constituency – libertarian-leaning business owners who feared their hands would be tied – and lost 53.5 percent to 46.5 percent. If the new, more business friendly initiative can pick up that crowd, it might win.

Moriarty’s estate includes an actual winery, which is why an Orange County pot-brownie baker who goes by the name Pati Cakes asked him to host the event. The initiative would tax and regulate marijuana like wine and, as with wine, anyone 21 or older could possess or use it. In fact, it generally would be illegal to impose on commercial marijuana activity any regulations greater than those imposed on winemaking and sales. See regulatemarijuanalikewine.com for details.

Of course, the initiative must make the ballot first, which is going to take about $1 million to get three-quarters of a million valid signatures. That’s was the purpose of the Thursday event, which raised about $10,000. I saw about 50 people there, among them Anaheim high school board trustee Katherine Smith, former county Treasurer candidate Keith Rodenhuis and Fullerton City Councilmember Bruce Whitaker, who was representing his boss, Assemblyman Chris Norby.

Rohrabacher, who admitted years ago he smoked pot as a young man, spoke briefly, repeating for everyone’s amusement his oft-quoted response to the question about whether he inhaled: “I did everything but drink the bong water.”

If Pati Cakes represented the medical-marijuana crowd and Rohrabacher the don’t-tread-on-me crowd, speaker Steve Downing, along with Gray, represented the drug-war-didn’t-work crowd. (I could not find an overt member of the let’s-just-get-stoned-and-watch-the-dog-for-three-hours crowd.)

Downing, a former LAPD deputy chief, said, “I was one of the original drug warriors,” and all it did was lead to the rise of the Bloods and Crips. (His group’s site, www.leap.cc, outlines why some cops support legalizing pot.) “I’ve never smoked a joint in my life,” Downing said, “and if this passes, I’m not going to start.”

Downing and Gray and their ilk, therefore, would contend there’s nothing inconsistent with the goals of the Festival of Children and the Regulate Marijuana Like Wine Initiative. In fact, the pro-pot crowd would argue the two are complementary. So, here’s hoping that next year, the cousins can get on the same page and host a, um, joint event in early September.

Mickadeit writes Mon.-Fri. Contact him at 714-796-4994 or fmickadeit@ocregister.com

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.